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Bum Rush
"None of us is as strong as all of us." A is a tactic that can be employed by players in R.U.S.E. to achieve a quick, decisive victory over his or her opponent(s). The term 'Bum's Rush' itself literally means what it sounds like: 'Bum', in this case, meaning hobo or tramp, and 'Rush' being a sudden, swift action. In essence, 'The poor man's fast-attack'. Engaging a Bum Rush is as simple as amassing a large quantity of cheap, fast-assembling units, and using the mass firepower to engulf and destroy larger, more powerful enemy units before the enemy faction can assemble an appropriate defense. While the technique is effective in some instances, it is not without its shortcomings. Fielding a Rush Conditions *'Intel is Key': Knowing where your enemy's troops are is the first and most important step to a Rush. Conversely, a defender who can recognize a Rush in its infancy has a better chance of mobilizing an appropriate defense. *'Small Map; Large Effect': The less ground your Rush has to cover, the better the result of the Rush will be. The aggressor wants as little chance as possible for his victim to attack his forces en route, and any time spent moving is time a defender has to prepare countermeasures. Additionally, rushing against multiple opponents means more than one starting point to monitor while assembling a Rush. *'Know Your Build-Orders': You must be well-versed in the cost and assembly times of the buildings and units you plan to use, to maximize the swift, efficient, and prolific creation of a homogeneous force. This may require trial and error on the part of the Rusher. *'Micro-management': A Bum's Rush may require the aggressor's attention to be in several places at once, keeping an eye on the ebb and flow of resources, his/her mobs of units, especially if the mob's path-finding logic should cause it to break up. Advantages *'Simplicity': The most obvious advantage is the simplicity of the attack versus the strain it puts on the defender to counteract. *'Too Many Targets': A unit can only target one opponent at a time, so a Rush offense can easily overwhelm heavier units which, while capable of decimating one or more of your units, cannot kill them all. *'Throw Another Tank on the Fire': Units lost in a Rush are cheap and quickly built, so the attacker can recoup his/her loses much faster than his opponents would. *'Hit 'em Again!': Even when a Rush fails entirely, the attack may have softened the enemy's defenses for a quick second wave, which can come just as suddenly and powerfully as the first. Disadvantages *'Specialization': A proper Rush requires the attacker to dedicate their forces to the tactic entirely, and are severely limited in tactical options. For example, if the defender notices the enemy amassing tanks for a rush, he might assemble a squadron of bombers to exploit the weakness of ground-based units. Or in the case of an Air rush, Anti-Aircraft, and so on and so forth. *'Defenseless': A Rusher devotes most, if not all of their resources to building and replacing rushing units, leaving very little to build a defense of their own if a Rush fails and the enemy turns the tables. *'Blind Leading The Blind': The very nature of a Rush tactic can turn on its player, making their offenses clumsy and ham-fisted, such as when the path-finding of unit groups splits up a rush or, even worse, turns them into a trickle of weak units marching to their death, single-file. Dealing With Rushes Dealing with rushes includes a few main ideas; 1. Build cheap but effective units in the early stage of the game to counter these attacks. 2. Build bunkers, if you cannot build the necessary units in time. 3. Build a combination of AA and artillery and a few recon units. Factions and Rushes *U.S.A: Good -- Though their Stuart ultralight tanks are poorly-armed, they are quick and cheap to build, making them a good candidate for a Rush tactic. *Germany: Poor -- Germany's war-machine is heavily devoted to quality units, meaning investing more resources and taking longer to build sturdier units. Consider instead a Blitzkrieg-style offense. *U.K.:Good -- Britain's paratroopers dont need any research to build. They are ready to rock as soon as you have an airfield. *France: Poor -- France is a superb countermeasure to Rush-tactic factions, this however does not lend them well to a Rush tactic. Rather, France is better suited for the polar opposite of a Rush maneuver: Turtling. Their only ultralight tank can only be used against infantry, and their heavier tanks take longer and cost more to build than equivalents from other factions. *Italy: Excellent -- Almost all of Italy's units are cheaper than equivalents from other factions, and build in barely any time at all. Though their individual firepower ranks amongst the lowest, attacking en masse makes them a devastating force to reckon with. Carro M13s and M15s are the best for rushes. *U.S.S.R.: Moderate -- Though not as expensive to build as Germany's units, the Soviet units do take a while to build. Combining Russian Armor with their long-range Artillery can lead to a slow-but-effective Creeping Barrage. However, Soviet tanks are tough, especially the T-34, and combined with tank destroyers and artillery can blow away enemy opposition.